Or....they could be licensed for a special limited edition release. I'm not saying you're wrong, but with labels like http://www.getondown.com/ and http://slice-of-spice.com/ doing special products of the sort, who is to say there isn't another player on the field that we're not aware of yet? I already know of one such label that's going to be launching next year and with a notable Angel Investor backing it too.

I see where you're coming from, but the thing is that those labels cater to a very niche audience so they usually spam the shit out of most of the blogs whenever they do drop something. Having seen or heard absolutely nothing about these tapes on teh Internetz makes me think they're bootlegs.

Creating awareness of such product is now called spam? Man the internet/underground hip hop audience have a very strange way at looking at things these days. Last I heard, it was called promotions and marketing and Spam was unwanted email that you never subscribed to. Not knocking you personally, but I'm glad multiple blogs are spreading the word of such music, because then it increases my interest in the music their pushing and if I like what I hear I support it, if not I just keep it moving.

I don't mean spam in the literal sense. I mean that in the way they all send the same promotional email to all the blogs and in actuality the blogs spam the readers. They don't offer much insight beyond the usual boilerplate description that every other blog copies and pastes for the sole purpose of hoping they get you to visit their sites. noz over at cocaineblunts has talked about this fact before. If I'm being critical of anyone Pete its the blogs not the labels, I've got no problem with (most) marketing and promoting.

Donuts & Unseen are not on cassette of course. But those are not far off.

Lootpack was released on cassette in '99
Ruff Draft was released on (ma'fuckin) cassette in the Turn It Up t-shirt box in '07.
and there's been some talk of Operation Doomsday on cassette through those get on down folks.